Better Product Managers, and Product Management

Into every product manager’s inbox a certain amount of angry customer mail must land.

But when do you respond to it, and when do you ignore it?

1. The Pure Vitriol-Filled Name-Calling Email

Example: (I don’t think I need to provide an example.  We’ve all seen these.)

Verdict: Ignore.

No good can come from responding to these.  Best case scenario, you respond rationally and embarrass the hell out of the person who now regrets sending such an unprofessional email.   That’s the best-case scenario.

I’ve seen lots of worst-case scenarios where this devolves into an otherwise reasonable product manager sinking to the level of the original sender and then the whole exchange gets posted on someone’s blog and everyone is embarrassed.

2. The 90% Vitriol-Filled Name-Calling, 10% Actual Valid Issue Email

Example: “I can’t believe you f***ers lost my data after I spent 15 minutes typing it in!!! This is the worst piece of …”

Verdict: Respond.

I actually think it’s a great idea to respond to these, provided that: a) you delete all references to the rude parts and b) you reply to the actual valid issue with neutral, objective language.  (“You’re right, it was unacceptable that you were unable to find your data.  It’s actually not lost, though, your saved draft can be found [here].”)

By deleting all references to the rude parts, you allow them to pretend that you didn’t see it and they didn’t write it.  But if you can’t be neutral/objective, just delete it.

3. The “Whatever, You Suck” Email

Example: “your pricing sucks I’m outta here”

Verdict: Ignore.

There’s a complaint here, but no substance to respond to.  What can you say — ‘no it doesn’t'?  No.   You have to just ignore these.

Note that if there’s a reason or some additional supporting details “Here’s why your pricing doesn’t work for me…”, then you can and should respond.  Even if all you can say is “I’m sorry we can’t do more but we appreciate your feedback”.

4. The Frustration-Laden Tirade Email

Example: “First I tried to search for a message I’d sent but kept getting no results, so I had to page through three hundred messages individually, then when I finally found the right one I tried to print and the page stopped responding and logged me out and then…”

Verdict: Respond. (preferably via phone)

It is much easier to call these people, sound sympathetic, and let them vent for a few minutes without interrupting.  Then, figure out what they wanted to do and walk them through doing it.

If you don’t have a phone number, try to do the same thing via email – agree that it was frustrating, agree that that’s unacceptable, and then figure out what they wanted to do and walk them through doing it (or, if possible, do it for them.)

These are the people who, if you ignore them, will hate you and spread negative feedback about you whenever they get the chance; but if you respond nicely and help them, can be turned into your best WOM allies.

5. The I’m Not Using Your Product Again Until You …  Email

Example: “I keep waiting for you to support [feature X] but you still haven’t.  I’m going to have to stop using your product and look for another solution because [feature X] is totally critical to my business.”

Verdict: Respond (unless it’s a repeat offender).

It is tempting to try and convince the person that they should continue using your product.  It is also ineffective (most of these people will continue to use your product, albeit a bit angrily).  If there is a workaround to accomplish the same goal that [feature X] would achieve, tell them about it.

If you will never, ever, ever build [feature X] because it makes zero sense to your business, tell them that as well!  (Most people are reluctant to do this, but I’ve had almost exclusively good conversations that started from being really honest and saying something like: “We’re not planning on building X, and here’s why.”

The one exception: if that same guy keeps sending you the same email about [feature X], you can ignore them after email #2.

6. The Email/Tweet/Blog Post/Comment That Makes You So Mad That You Really Want to Write Something Rude Back

Example: will vary by person.

Verdict: IGNORE IGNORE IGNORE (and then think about it).

It doesn’t matter if there are totally valid points that should be addressed, or the person is completely factually wrong, or even if you feel like this is borderline slander – if you are angry, do not respond.

If you have done your job building relationships with your other customers, the odds are high that someone else will respond on your behalf and correct any misinformation.   Or you can ask a more stoic coworker to come up with a neutral response.

But even if not, think about the options:

1. Angry ranter writes comment, no one responds (clearly no one agrees with them, so you end up looking fine)
2. Angry ranter writes comment, lots of people come to your defense (you end up looking even better than before)
3. Angry ranter writes comment, lots of people agree (clearly you have a problem, and you should focus on fixing it versus debating it)

Safer to ignore (and see #1: avoid being sucked into an argument that can only make you look bad.)

Of course, for all of us, our goal is to get as little of this email as possible.  But until then, keep growing that skin thicker, and feel free to hit the ‘delete’ key sometimes.

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